Rooms for rent during the World Cup can be anything from somebody's spare bed to more luxurious offerings - such as these sea-front cabins outside Cape Town. Photograph: iStopover.com

"We must find 200,000 beds. If there is more accommodation available that we don't know about, we would like to hear about it." So said Fifa official Danny Jordaan in September in what sounded like a rather desperate plea ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Although these sites originally targeted the unfussy backpacker market – hence their hip, homey names – they have moved on and are now incorporating high-end properties to rival the best boutique hotels. Among the spare rooms are finds like this luxurious villa on the slopes of Table Mountain with panoramic views across the Atlantic ($332 a night, sleeps eight).

iStopover has created its own sub-site especially for the tournament, teaming up with a South African property company to boost local publicity. "We currently have over 1,400 listings," says site founder Mark Skapinker. "Bookings from guests all over the world are already rolling in, and we [expect] them to skyrocket now that fans know exactly where the teams are playing."

World Cup officials have predicted a shortfall of 46,000 beds during the event, and so some travellers are going to have no choice but to get creative. Another good option would be to use a home-exchange site (try homelink.org, 1sthomeexchange.com or our very own guardianhomeexchange.co.uk). But be warned: South Africans can afford to be choosy right now so your listing must stand out. "You need to include a well-written description of your home, yourselves and the location, adding lots of photos," advises Tony DiCaprio of 1stHomeExchange. "Home exchanging is not like booking a hotel, so you need to be pro-active, flexible and work on building a rapport with others."

Beds listed on free hospitality sites like Couchsurfing.com and HospitalityClub.org will also be highly sought after. Some South African hosts report that they started receiving requests as early as last year. Newcomers should note that the golden rule of couchsurfing etiquette is to read people's profiles and send a personalised request, rather than blanket-spamming all members in the region. One Pretoria-based member who has already received numerous requests says, "I now expressly state on my profile that I don't accept requests more than two weeks in advance."

Those with couchsurfing experience (and good references on their profile to prove it) will be more likely to find success. Whichever accommodation network or home-swapping site you use, be sure to do your research to make sure the place has good transport links to the stadiums.

For many World Cup-goers, the key to finding a good room this summer is doing something that won't be possible in the competition itself: you need to widen the net.

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